


Baby Kitty

by SailorChibi



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Needs a Hug, Adrien Agreste gets a hug, Age Play, Angst with a Happy Ending, Chat Noir Needs A Hug, Crying, Cuddling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Reveal, Infantilism, Little Headspace, Marichat, Pacifiers, Platonic Cuddling, Protect Adrien Agreste, Protective Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Reveal, Teddy Bears, alternate universe - littles are known, breakdowns, caregiver marinette dupain-cheng, just give the poor boy all the hugs ok, little adrien agreste, non sexual age play, non sexual infantilism, that's right i'm going there, thumb sucking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 14:39:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16518395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorChibi/pseuds/SailorChibi
Summary: Marinette has been acting as Chat Noir's unofficial caregiver for months. The day that she finds Adrien crying on the roof, she finds out pretty quickly that those two things are strongly related.





	Baby Kitty

**Author's Note:**

> It was only a matter of time before I brought age play into the MLB fandom. I can actually see Adrien and Marinette both ways, but decided to experiment with Adrien getting hugs and cuddles first off because lord knows that boy needs it.

Ladybug prides herself on being a professional. No matter how hard it is, no matter how much Chat Noir pouts, no matter how frustrating it is to keep running away, she maintains the line between her and her partner. She has to. Fighting akumas is dangerous. Hawkmoth is dangerous. There's too much at stake, and she has too many nightmares as it is of fights where Chat Noir doesn't get up and walk away. If she knows who he is, if she lets down that last line of professionalism, she'll never be able to keep herself away. That's what she tells herself, anyway.

Marinette has the sinking feeling that she's already fucked.

"Chat," she whispers. "Chat, baby, you need to go. It's after midnight and you said you have an early morning tomorrow."

She looks down at the body half-sprawled across her lap. When they're both standing, Chat Noir is a few inches taller than she is. It's hard to believe that he can fold himself up to look _this_ tiny. His knees are tucked up against his chest, his head cushioned against her breasts. He can't suck his thumb while he's transformed - she knows that for a fact, he's tried and the resulting split lip and cut tongue from his claws was a disaster - so he's sucking on a pacifier instead, a bright green one. One arm is wrapped around his teddy bear and the other is curled into her pajama top, like he's frightened she might slip away while he's asleep.

Who is she kidding? That's exactly what he's afraid of, and the very thought makes her simultaneously sick and enraged. No Little should be this unsure of affection; no Little should live in fear of being left completely alone. Chat Noir fits both of those criteria, and so many more that Marinette can't think about it very long without wanting to pry Chat Noir's civilian identity out of him so that she can murder his parents with her bare hands. At this point, she doesn't even think that she would need Ladybug's powers to do it, 

She's so compromised it's not even funny. The first time her partner showed up on her balcony, it was a fluke. Or so he claims. She was working at designing a dress when she heard the light thump of feet on her balcony. Chat Noir's wide, guilty green eyes had greeted her when she poked her head up to see what was going on. Marinette had dropped the bat she'd grabbed instinctively and had been seconds away from demanding to know what he thought he was doing there when Chat Noir had shuddered, drawn in on himself and started to cry.

He'd never cried in front of her before. It was actually alarming how fast she melted, bruising her left elbow in her mad scramble to get up onto the balcony and figure out what was wrong. Chat Noir's confession, that he was a Little, had stunned her cold. It made _so much sense_ in retrospect. How the hell had she never figured it out?!

And now here they are, some five months later, and Marinette has pacifiers littered around her room and some new stuffed animals clustered on her bed and soft blankets and sippy cups and - and - and. She rubs her hand over her eyes. She's in so deep. They're both so screwed. And she can't even explain that to Chat Noir, because he shows up here with tears in his green eyes with his arms raised for a hug and she just... _melts_. He comes whenever he's had a bad day and has no idea that he's actually coming to Ladybug, the very person that he's so determined to hide his status from.

"Chat," Marinette says again, a little louder, prodding him gently.

He finally stirs, eyes blinking open. He looks so tired; the skin beneath his eyes is puffier every time she sees him, and it wrecks her. She doesn't want him to go. She wants him to de-transform so she can give him a bath and then dress him up in the pajamas she may or may not have designed for him and then wrap him up in the soft blanket she made for him last weekend. She wants to sing him to sleep in her bed and then wake up to his warm, heavy weight sprawled on top of her. She wants so much more than she's allowed to have.

"Sorry, Mari," he mumbles, the pacifier sliding out of his mouth when he yawns widely. It's so cute.

"Don't be sorry. You were tired. There's nothing wrong with that."

Chat Noir scoffs a little, rubbing at his eyes with clenched fists. His hair is sticking out in little tufts and his cheeks are flushed. He's the most adorable Little she's ever seen by far, and she's the only one who gets to see it. He's told her that no one really knows about his status beside his father, and that his father is determined to keep it under wraps for the sake of the company he runs. His father's a selfish bastard in Marinette's expert opinion. He's also told her that he hasn't told Ladybug because he thinks Ladybug won't trust him to be a partner anymore, so Marinette also qualifies as a selfish bastard. He's so alone it hurts.

"I probably won't be back for a while. I have a really busy couple days ahead of me," he says, tail drooping, peering up at her from underneath his shaggy bangs.

"That's okay. I'm always here," Marinette says. She wishes she could be here for him more. The funny thing is, there's no doubt in her mind that he would tell her his identity if it weren't for Ladybug's firm stance on not sharing their identities with anyone. And while technically she's not wrong, because keeping their identities secret is a good idea, she made that rule way before she figured out how much Chat Noir is suffering.

How's she supposed to rescind it when technically, Ladybug isn't supposed to know any of this?

He smiles at her, perking up, and darts forward to kiss her cheek. "G'night, Mari."

Sometimes when he says that, it sounds like he's saying Mommy. Her heart always speeds up ridiculously fast when that happens. She takes his head in hers and presses a light kiss to his forehead. "Goodnight, my kitten."

After he's gone, Marinette puts her pillow over her face and screams. She screams for Chat Noir, and herself, and Ladybug, and Chat Noir's civilian self, and the needlessly tangled situation they've put themselves into. 

"Marinette," Tikki says, tugging at the pillow. "Don't suffocate yourself."

"It's what I deserve," Marinette moans. "Oh, Tikki. What am I going to do?"

Tikki sighs and finally pulls the pillow away so she can see Marinette's face. "The situation is hardly ideal. I wish we'd known Chat Noir was a Little from the start. I would've advised you differently."

"He thinks Ladybug will hate him!" Marinette wails, throwing her hands in the air. How has professionalism driven such a huge wedge between them? She could never hate her partner, even if she weren't a caregiver. She'd set herself on fire first.

"Then you need to let him know that wouldn't happen," Tikki says.

"How? I've already suggested he confess. He's adamant about not doing it. And Ladybug can't say that Marinette told her. He'll never trust me again." Marinette sits up, wrapping her arms around the pillow and gnawing on it in frustration. The teddy bear she bought for Chat Noir is still laying on her bed. He never takes it with him, even though she told him that he could. She thinks he thinks his father will throw it out.

"I feel like this is partly my fault," Tikki admits. "Chat Noir and Ladybug are _always_ a balance. If you're a caregiver, of course he would be a Little. It's just been so long since Plagg or I chose a Little..."

"I didn't even know, so you couldn't have," Marinette says glumly. "Should I just... drop my transformation next time?" She looks up at Tikki. "He might hate me for hiding the truth from him, but then at least he would know."

Tikki floats closer and pats her cheek. "If that's what you want to do, I'd support you."

"Thanks Tikki." Marinette sighs long and loud and lays down, rolling over on her side and staring at the empty space beside her that could be filled with a kitten.

It takes her ages to fall asleep, so of course she wakes up late and has to sprint around like a mad-woman to get ready. She dashes down the steps, grabs the croissant from her papa's outstretched hand, and literally sprints to school. She makes it just before the bell rings and sinks into her seat beside Alya, panting. Alya just laughs at her. Marinette makes a face at her and turns to face the front of the classroom, noticing that the seat in front of her is empty.

"Where's Adrien?" she whispers to Alya.

"Nino says that there's some event going on," Alya whispers back. "Adrien won't be back till Thursday at lunch."

Nino turns around, having heard their whispering, and says, "Yeah, my dude has got three days crammed full of modelling stuff. From the sound of it, he'll barely have enough time to breathe."

"Poor Adrien," Alya says. "But hey, this is a great chance for you to share your notes with him, Marinette."

"Shut up," Marinette hisses, reddening at the thought. She doubts she'll be able to get up the courage. But just in case, she decides to make her notes as clear as possible.

True to his word, she doesn't see Chat Noir for the next three days. Marinette worries. A lot. The temptation to transform and contact him as Ladybug is strong, but she restrains herself. Chat Noir said he was busy. She doesn't want to add more stress onto his plate. He'll think that something is wrong if Ladybug is calling him, and she knows her kitty: he'll freak out and pull himself away from whatever he's doing and risk getting himself into trouble. All because she wanted to check on him, when Ladybug shouldn't even be concerned about checking on him.

He doesn't show up on Wednesday night like she hopes he might. She walks into class on Thursday morning in a bad mood, to wound up with worry to really pay attention to anyone or anything else - but of course, she always notices Adrien. He's sitting beside Nino, looking so exhausted that Marinette does a double take. It's definitely concerning when Adrien, who knows more about make-up than girl in the class combined, looks this bad. Nino looks fit to be tied, arms crossed as he hovers worriedly over his friend. Adrien seems not to notice the attention, head turning as Marinette passes.

"Hi Marinette," Adrien says, looking up at her.

"Hi Adrien," Marinette says absently, already wondering if her kitty looks like that, and walks past him without lingering. She completely misses the way Adrien's face crumbles at her dismissal.

The day starts off with an English test. Marinette has kind of studied in between freaking out about Chat Noir, and thinks she manages to pull off a half-decent mark. Her attention gets caught once or twice by movement in front of her; Adrien keeps reaching back to rub at his neck. She leans her head on her hand and wonders if he's struggling with the test. Usually Adrien's grades are at the top of the class, but she supposes that he hasn't had much time for studying over the past three days. He'll probably get the chance to re-write if he does poorly, but Gabriel Agreste probably doesn't look kindly on that sort of thing.

Following the test, they have mathematics and then science. Adrien, Marinette notices, has no homework to submit, which isn't that surprising. She submits her own half-assed work and settles in for a long, boring lecture. But it's hard to pay attention to their teacher when Adrien won't stop fidgeting. Seriously, it's really annoying. If it were Chat Noir, she'd be swaddling him in a blanket and turning on the mobile that always fascinates him - he loves the spinning lights and can watch them for hours in true cat-like fashion. It always relaxes him. She idly wonders what relaxes Adrien.

Come lunchtime, Adrien leaps up and shoots out of the room. If this were a cartoon, there'd be an Adrien-shaped dust cloud left behind. 

"What was that about?" Alya says, leaning forward to poke at Nino.

He twists to face them, looking grim. "He's had a really shit few days. Apparently, he screwed up some shoot because he was tired, and his father lost it on him."

"Asshole," Alya breathes.

Nino nods. "I don't think it's good for him to be alone right now. I need to go talk to him."

"He's probably hiding, knowing Adrien. Want our help looking?" Alya says, and Nino nods gratefully.

"I'll look in the library and the gym," Nino says. "If you guys could check the courtyard, that would be great. Text me if you find him." He jumps up and hurries out.

"You go to the courtyard. I'll check the lab," Marinette says to Alya. In all honesty, she doesn't think Adrien is in any of those places. They're always crowded with students at lunch. No, if Adrien wants to be alone, he'll go somewhere else.

If Chat Noir wanted to be alone, he'd go to the roof. Marinette would too, come to think of it. Adrien's no superhero, but the roof is a quiet place because students aren't supposed to be up there. She heads for the stairwell. Thankfully, her ladybug luck means that no one sees her slide the door open and disappear inside. She takes the stairs two at a time and reaches the top within two minutes, pushing the door open and stepping out into the sunlight. For all that it's a bright and sunny day, it's chilly outside and she shivers as she lets the door fall shut.

An alarmed squeak instantly catches her attention and she turns, surveying the room. The huddled figure in the far corner immediately grabs her attention. Adrien turns away, hiding his face, but not before she sees that he's crying. Her heart breaks for him. She briefly considers texting Nino, but Adrien came up here to be alone. He probably doesn't want more people seeing him this way. She doesn't text Nino or Alya, but nor does she leave. Embarrassing crushes aside, Adrien is her friend and he's crying. She walks over to him and hesitates.

"A-Adrien?" she says, uncertain.

"G-Go 'way," he stutters, his voice catching on a sob.

"I will if you want me to, but I thought... you might need a friend." Marinette clears her throat awkwardly and crouches down.

He's got his face hidden in his hands, and he mumbles something she can't quite make out. Her heart begins to pound so hard that it hurts. 

It almost sounded like he called her Mommy.

"W-what?" she says faintly. "Adrien?"

"Please," he begs, "please, Mari, just go away."

Adrien has never called her Mari. Marinette sits down hard. There's an awful suspicion building in the back of her head. A lot of things that aren't particularly alarming on their own are suddenly lining up to form an awful picture. 

They've never asked Adrien what his classification is. She, like everyone else, assumes he's baseline. Certainly not a caregiver, but just normal. This, though. This fit of exhausted sobbing can't be anything but a Little pushed to their absolute limit, and maybe even beyond. A Little who doesn't have anyone to depend on, and who has no choice but to push himself because there's no one else to stand up for him and say no. Because his father, the man who is supposed to be responsible for him in lieu of a caregiver, won't.

She stares at Adrien, taking silent note of the color of his hair and eyes, his height and weight and the broadness of his shoulders. They're familiar. He's taller than her, but he looks like he could curl up in her lap. She presses her cold fingers to her mouth. If she's right, she's been cuddling Adrien Agreste in her bed for the past four months in a way that she never thought could happen. She has no idea what this means for her crush or Adrien's supposed crush on Ladybug (is it even a crush, though? Or just his desperate need for a caregiver leaking out in a way people have misinterpreted?), but if she's right -

"Hey," Marinette says, keeping her voice steady by pure force of will. "It's not nice to tell people to go away, baby kitty. If you need space, you can let me know using your nice words."

He freezes.

Shit.

Marinette has screwed up _so hard_.

But she can't think about that now. She reaches out and puts a hand on his arm. "I've been really worried about my kitten."

Adrien cracks. She can see the instant it happens. He unfurls and throws himself at her. Marinette is ready for it, opening her arms and letting him scramble his way into her lap as his sobbing reaches new heights. She wraps her arms around him and rocks him back and forth, wondering how she missed it. Her kitten's been sitting right in front of her for the past two years and _she missed it_. She's going to scream herself hoarse in her pillow tonight.

He doesn't speak; Marinette doesn't expect him to. When Chat Noir gets really, truly upset, he tends to go quiet. It alarmed her at first, until she realized that it was probably because he has such an affinity for sucking on things. She looked it up on the internet once. Reading that kittens get comfort from sucking on their mother's nipples, and that it's a trait that some cats never fully grow out of, was heartwarming and she knows now that it's a comfort thing. The only real problem is that Marinette isn't in the practice of carrying pacifiers around.

But then Adrien shifts against her and his thumb goes into his mouth, and, well, that works too. She kisses his tear-dampened cheek and pets his hair, instinctively seeking out the spots that always make Chat Noir go so limp against her. The way Adrien snuffles and melts against her destroys the last of her doubts. She's definitely found her partner. Her poor, over-worked, overwhelmed, partner.

She doesn't even know what set him off. At this point, she doesn't care. If she doesn't get him calmed down soon, an akuma may come calling. And then Ladybug will have to go straight-up murder Hawkmoth for trying to touch her kitten.

They can’t go back downstairs. Adrien is too close to his headspace and she knows from experience that he won’t be surfacing anytime soon. She looks down at him, at her precious kitty, and makes a decision that she really should have made a long time ago.

“What do you think? Wanna go snuggle in my bed?” she whispers. 

Adrien nods against her, still sucking his thumb, and her heart aches for him.

“Okay, _Chaton_. Mari’s gonna take you home.”

He tenses, but she can’t tell why. Is it the nickname or the mention of home? Who cares?

“Tikki, spots on!”

The look of shock on Adrien’s face makes her feel guilty. As the red light fades, Ladybug taps his nose. “You were always so scared to tell me. I told you Ladybug would understand.”

His green eyes are huge. She smiles sadly and stands up. He makes a quiet, kitten-like sound and clings to her like he thinks she’s going to push him away. Ladybug shushes him and pulls him up, encouraging him to wrap his legs around her waist. Like this, he feels like he barely weighs anything. She really needs to get him to eat more.

She wraps an arm around his waist and flings out her yoyo with the other. It’s a short swing to the bakery, and within minutes she’s standing on her balcony. She opens the window – she never locks it now – and lets them both slide inside. They land on the bed and her transformation comes undone. Tikki smiles shyly at Adrien before she’s bowled over by a black kwami; they go spinning head over heels out of sight.

Marinette reels Adrien into her arms. This is comfortable. It’s still her kitty, just without the leather. Adrien is stiff against her at first, but then all at once he relaxes. His head falls against her chest, just under her chin, and he snuggles into her.

“Good kitty,” Marinette whispers, digging out her phone. She shoots a quick message to Alya and Nino to let them know she’s found Adrien, and that they’re skipping afternoon classes. They’ll have to come up with some kind of story for their friends, but Adrien’s in no frame of mind for that. Then she drops her phone over the side of the bed. She has zero interest in whatever frantic texts Alya is going to shoot back right now.

He mumbles something around his thumb. Her traitorous heart skips a beat.

“Did you say Mari or…” She trails off.

His face goes a shade of red to rival her suit, which is its own kind of answer.

“If you want to call me Mommy…” Marinette can barely speak for how much she wants it. It’s probably wrong, because this isn’t official and this smacks of something so intense it feels like forever, but to hell with it. Ladybug and Chat Noir have been doing things the “right way” all along and look where they’ve ended up. Maybe it’s time to start throwing everything out the window.

Adrien pulls his thumb out of his mouth, curling his wet thumb into a loose fist. “M-Mommy?” he says, his voice soft.

She sucks in a sharp breath at the sound of it. Two syllables that shake the foundations of her world.

“I’m right here,” she whispers when she thinks she can speak again. She fishes around behind her until she finds Chat Noir’s – no, Adrien’s teddy bear, and gives it to him. His face brightens and he grabs it, pulling it into a hug.

“Thanks,” he says, with a hint of shyness that’s utterly adorable. 

“It’s always here for you,” Marinette says. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

Adrien shakes his head, but says, “Bad day. Bad day _s_. Can I… can we…” and he gestures with his hand to the bed.

“Of course. You look like you could use a nap. And then, maybe some dinner,” Marinette says, hugging him to her. She finds a pacifier on the bed and slides it into his mouth before he can protest. She’s seen how Adrien can be around food; it explains Chat Noir, at least. She’ll have none of that. Her kitty is going to eat, damnit, and she’ll happily feed him with her own two hands if that’s what he needs.

“I’m still Chat Noir?” he mumbles around the pacifier. It’s a question that _aches_. She wants to find everyone who ever made Adrien feel inadequate or lacking and punch them.

“Yes. Yes, a thousand times over. I wouldn’t want anyone else for a partner. I need my kitten by my side, always,” she says firmly. “And if you’ll have me, that means in everything.” She taps his nose again for emphasis. Adrien’s eyes cross, trying to track her finger, before they focus back on her face.

He nods slowly at first, then quicker. There are tears forming in his eyes again. Marinette just hugs him, finally glad to have her kitten home where he belongs.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](http://tsuki-chibi.tumblr.com/).


End file.
